Kentucky Area Train Shops - Where to Go?

The "L&N" train shop closed in Louisville, I have not heard of another, but there is one out at Elizabethtown, south of Louisvllle on I-65.  The guy running the E-town shop sets up in the big York dealer hall, and has offered a lot of custom Atlas cars and now custom weathered ones there.  Not far from that, at New Haven, Ky. , is the Kentucky Railway Museum, with a variety of rolling stock including a Brille gas electric and a Jim Crow center door combine coach.  Diesel train rides run, also, but probably just on weekends, and maybe in summer only.

North of Cincinnati between I-75 and I-71 is Mason, Ohio, with a mostly tinplate

shop right downtown, with parking on a lot against the building. (I can't find either

of the above shops' ads in any magazine, which show name and addresses)

 

Kentucky has a lot model rail road fans but no shops anymore I guess. There were two in Louisville not sure both are now gone. That one in Ohio mentioned union station I think it is called, is a bear to get to and the traffic made me turn back to Cincinnati and head back across the river. Union Station, the REAL train station is worth a visit. A really nice S guage layout in the museum, and down stairs is the original CG&E displayif it is open. Worth seeing.

Rob

Yes, "Dixie Union" is the one in Mason I was trying to describe.  A shop I visited

occasionally years ago and just discovered again lately, in Louisville, had grown

many times its old size, but is mostly used trains.  I can't remember its name either,

probably found in the local phonebook, but coming into Louisville from the east on

I-71, turn south on Watterson Expressway and then west immediately at the first exit unto Brownsboro Road. Get in the left lane and turn left at the first stop light.  Drive

back half a block and turn left behind that strip mall.  The shop opens out unto that back parking lot behind that mall. (not easy to find)

The Round House on Brownsboro road in Louisville is still open.

Rob

There are three ways to get to Mason/Dixie Union....the straightest shot has the lousiest exit, off I-71 to head directly west AFTER you figure out how to get through spaghetti junction under the I-71 bridge that involves access to that huge Kings Mill mall there.  Off I-75 you go east on Tylersville Rd., some distance until you see a RR crossing sign.

Turn left there (the tracks cross diagonnaly through the intesection...and trains do

run!) Keep going north into Mason until you see the shop on your left, with a small parking lot on the south side.  If Tylersville Road is unnerving, you can come at

Mason from the north, turning off I-75 east past the Racecino on Ohio 63, past

the state pen (don't turn right there), go up to the next right turn on OH 741 south,

follow it to U.S. 42, turning right into Mason.  These are generally uncrowded country roads these days.  (there are tracks across OH 741 just before you get to U.S. 42,

and trains do run there, too)

Yup, the Round House, behind that mall there, is the other one I couldn;t remember the name of....

Great thread, guys!  How about Tim's in Covington, anyone ever been?

BTW, I'm after MTH, Lionel, and Atlas stuff, especially buildings and accessories.

Ok, It's time to get Excited, ROUNDHOUSE HOBBY SHOP, 4870 Brownsboro Road, Louisville Ky, phone--502-895-2466 is a large Lionel, MTH, ATLAS O and postwar, New and Pre-Owned Dealer, and They are super nice, See Tony and Kevin..

Now, in Mason Ohio, The Dixie Union Station, 110 West Main St, phone number is 513-459-0460...Now you really need to calL ROCKY  FOR their hours....ROCKY IS BIG in MTH, Ross Track, lots of Structures,nice in store layout, and lots of cars, buildings, scenery merchandise, and Good Advice.

Both Hobby Shops are a Must See....You will be glad you did....Also, there are some really nice Layouts in Each City....WOW---Happy Railroading

I am from Lexington and I was bummed when Berkshire Trains closed off of Southland Drive. I haven't had a home in KY since 2003, but I always looked forward to stopping in there when I was in Lexington. So many areas have lost their stores. I loved to go to Davis Hobby Shop in Milford, OH(now gone). Charlotte, Greensboro and Raleigh have lost their shops. Mizell trains in Westminster, Co--gone as well. It's sad.

Scott Smith

Looking at your post, being from Kentucky, there is a really Nice Layout and it's in Hawesville, Ky. Also, there are nice layouts in Evansville, Indiana, Madisonville Kentucky, Clarksville TENNESSEE, and Nashville Tennessee....Larry Black can help you in Lexington, and Scott Mann also.  It's an EXCITING TIME IN OUR HOBBY, The Hobbybshops that have Survived, are doing thei best to Serve OUR NEEDS.

Berkshire had three owners and four locations in ten years.  I spent a good bit of time and money at the Southland location, but the inventory never seemed to sell or change.  There currently located in a really small shop selling old, used stuff off Winchester Road.

Hey Larry,

 

who is Larry Black and Scott Mann?  Lexington is only an hour away for me.

Tim's Trains in Covington is mostly an HO shop with a very little bit of 3-rail.  Now and then he gets some O-gauge on consignment.  He carries a good selection of scenery supplies, paint, etc. at discount prices.  Dixie Union Staion is primarily a 3-rail shop.  He carries lots of MTH with some Atlas, Lionel and 3rd Rail, Gargraves and Ross, scenery stuff, etc.  Rocky also has discount prices.

 

If you decide to visit Dixie Union, and especially since you're a Pennsy guy, you're welcome to visit my layout while you're in the area.  I live about 15 minutes from Dixie Union Station.  My e-mail is in my profile.

Scott, (Scott-Smith) who posted earlier may be familiar with Lexington, Larry Black is a member of LCCA and lives in Lexington. He owns DieCast Direct....Wow. 

Bob, I'm a huge fan of your layout and would love to see it in person.  Let me talk with wife and I'll contact you.  Sounds like Dixie Union is the place to go.

PRRFan,Where do you live in Kentucky? Yes I was at Die Cast Direct in Frankfort in October.

Scott Smith

Ahh, OK - chances are I've met him a few week times.  Diecast Direct is great, I try to get up there every two months.  

 

I took my grandfathers up there the day before Christmas, but they were closed.  When we were getting in the car to leave, two guys came around the side from the warehouse.  They were there on their day off checking the building - they opened up the showroom just for us and pulled our orders from the warehouse on Christmas Eve!  Great people with an awesome selection.

I live in Danville, feel free to say hello if ever passing through.

I may have made an error, getting old, Larry Black may live in Frankfort.  I used to see him at the LCCA Meets in Lexington many years ago. I Would Highly Reccommmend seeing Bob Bartizeks layout if possible, It's a Fantastic Model Railroad. On a Scale of 1-10, it's a 15!!!!!!! Wow.

PRR, I echo Bob's comments.  Tim's is OK for scenery items, and he occasionally has something interesting in O, but mostly other scales.  The shop is right next to a main line.

 

Dixie Union Station is a good O scale shop, also some good selection of structures, and a lot of MTH, but nice selection of Atlas, Lionel and some other brands.

 

If you can make the time to take Bob up on his offer to visit his layout, you will not be disappointed.   I have been fortunate enough to visit several times, and each time I learn and see something more.  It is one of the great layouts in my opinion.

 

Should you have time after all of this, and nice train destination is Entertrainment Junction, G Scale, but a great very large layout. Not far from Bob or Dixie Union Station.  As someone else mentioned the Union Terminal is a nice stop.  They have several museums in it, one of which has a S Scale layout of Mid Century Cincinnati.  

 

Enjoy your trip

I was in Danville 3 times last year. I have been trying to get in the door at Centre College. I went to high school with the owner of Karamel Kreations in Danville. I also know Vincent DiMartino (Brass Festival in Danville).

Scott Smith

Wow, talk about a small world; my wife loves Kreations and I used to work for Vince's wife.

I looked through Dixie's website and this place looks great.  Looks like they have display shelving for sale, I really need some of this.

 

I was a music major at UK when Vinnie was teaching there. I changed majors before I graduated (in Telecommunications). Beth at Karamel and I were both in the Lafayette High School Band together in the late '70's.

Scott Smith

The train shelves he has are nice. He uses them in the store as well so you can get a good look at them.

I'll second the Roundhouse! 8+ rooms of amazing. One room is N/HO/O, one is S and the rest is almost all O and their prices are reasonable!

 

http://www.roundhouseky.com/

 

 

Dixie Union is the place to stop and shop, but Cincinnati Museum Center @ Union Terminal is a must see!

Cincinnati in Motion is a multi-million dollar S scale layout of the city in the 1940's, then there is the building itself which is one of the grandest Art Deco train stations in the country, last there is Tower A -- run by the Cincinnati Rail Road Club, where one can do some rail fanning over a very active rail yard.

Thanks everyone for the help; I haven't been to a decent shop in three years so this will be great to go to new places.

Roundhouse is a great hobby shop, been there a few times when I'm visiting my girlfriends family. If you are going there for the first time, you need to drive all the way around the back of the strip mall that is there. They are kind of in an odd location, a bit hard to find, but worth the hunt!

I live in Louisville.  The only shop remaining that is dedicated to Model Trains, is Roundhouse.  L&N Trains closed Fall of 2013.  Kevin owns the Roundhouse, but Tom (whom used to own it) is still there most days each week.  There is plenty of knowledge in the shop, and the selections are across the board.

 

There is plenty of HO, N, O (Postwar, MPC, & Modern), G, American Flyer S, and even some Standard Gauge/ Tinplate.  Kevin also has a large selection of Buildings for HO, AF S, and O.  He is an MTH Dealer, though the shop does lean more heavily towards Lionel.  There is a fairly large selection of MTH Buildings.  And he is also a dealer for Williams, Atlas, & Gargraves.

 

Kevin can order anything that you are looking for, but keep in mind he is a dealer that charges MSRP for New Product (Lionel & MTH Locomotives/ Rolling Stock).  His primary wholesaler is Horizon Hobbies.  If you are Police, Fire, EMS, or Military (AGR or Retired), Kevin does offer a 5% Discount on everything else, except things like Magazines and such.  

 

On a personal note, I have done quite a bit of business with Kevin over the past several years, and I have also created/ redesigned his re-vamped business cards since Late 2013.  Kevin will bend over backward for his customers.  He also does offer layaway if needed.

 

Though there is not an official O Club here in the Louisville Area, there are several people that have fairly detailed/ large layouts, and there is a pseudo/ quasi group here in town, that meets at a place in the South-End of Jefferson Co, where there are several layouts.  The nearest O Train Club is Queen City Hi-Railers in Cincinnati.  One of our fellow OGR members is here in Louisville, and that is Trainman2001 aka Myles.  I am in the process of the designing my next layout here in our basement.  I am always up for meeting fellow train/ model rr enthusiast.

Dixie Union Station is an outstanding shop with a large inventory and very easy to get to if you take the Kings Island exit off I-71.  Rocky Lane is super nice and accommodating.  He is closed on Sunday and Wednesday, open 10:00AM to 7:00PM on Saturday and 1:00PM to 8:00PM M, T, T & F.  I am in Lexington and have been doing business with him for years.  Your GPS will probably try to take you a different route but if you use the Kings Island exit (the park is visible to the east) it will take you to downtown Mason.   

I usually stop at roundhouse once or twice a year while in the area for work.  Large shop, diverse selection, nice people. The location is kind of odd, thought I  had the address wrong the first time. Once you get to the strip mall that your gps takes you to, drive around the back.  Its basically in the middle. Have a good trip. 

 

 

I lived near Roundhouse and before that, outside Loouisville for many years, all through school.  Before Roundhouse in that same strip mall, Mrs. Fischer, the widow

of Mr. Fischer of the downtown Louisville shop that was written up in the "other"

tinplate magazine, operated a hobby shop there that was mostly HO.  Prior to that,

in my teens, there was a hobby shop on a back street just off the main drag in St.

Matthews.  At Hikes Point there IS a mostly airplane shop with a few construction

materials railroad modelers can use.  Another vanished and shortlived, I think, shop

with trains south of Louisville was in the strip mall halfway between Buechel and Fern Creek.  Most of this is just a history lesson for those in Kentucky.  Surprises me that

neither Louisville nor Cincinnati have a general hobby shop of any consequence.

We made it out to Roundhouse yesterday - very nice shop.  They had a little of everything and very friendly folks.  There must have been around 15 other customers there, so it was great to see a busy shop.  Thanks for all who gave the description on the location, we had no trouble finding it.

I heading to Cincinnati, the weekend of the 17th, and am wondering if this is still up to date.  I am planning stopping on Mr Muffins on the way to Cincinnati. Hopefully I'll have money left over after stopping there. 

No way! We will turn you upside down and shake out your pockets!....

 

Seriously, I hope you do visit!.....

 

Steve......

We wouldn't miss it!!!!   Don't worry you would have to hold me up side down and shake out my pockets.  I'll just walk in with my credit card in hand!!!!